Land nod for solar energy project

The Shire of Morawa has earmarked land for a proposed solar energy plant.

Carbon Reduction Ventures wants to build a $21 million, three-megawatt renewable energy plant to supply electricity to the mid-west Western Australian town.

Morawa has long struggled with an unreliable power supply and representations to the State Government and Western Power have fallen on deaf ears.

The council recently approved a 10-hectare parcel of land to build the plant at the Morawa Agriculture College.

Shire president Gavin Treasure says it represents a significant milestone in the development of the project.

"What we need to do now is finalise our funding arrangements and consolidate our partnerships in relation to funding for the project, so we're working very hard now with a lot of stakeholders, including the state and the Australian governments, about some funding support towards the project," he said.

"This is a classic case of turning a problem into an opportunity.

"The fact that we have poor reliability of power and we've been earmarked for 'super town' means we need to address the issue of our reliability of power rather quickly and so by looking at alternative solutions to fix the problem it means the Morawa Shire Council has taken ownership to identify a preferred solution to deliver a fabulous outcome to the community of Morawa and the state of Western Australia."